The_Natural

I like Xfast for all jigs and soft plastics.

I played around with them again at Cabelas last night. If I had $100 to spend on a rod; that would be it. They look and feel great!

I'm going to try and shoot a short video on how I make them with the zip ties without using a normal skirt band first. This is the benefit of the zip ties. Wire tying provides a little 'cleaner' look; but you have to put the traditional rubber skirt band on first, and then tie the wire on. It's quite a bit more time consuming, and I saw no benefit over my zip ties. I've gotten to where I can trim the 'tag end' of the zip tie flush with the zip ties 'stopper'. I'll just have to show you. It isn't difficult at all...you'll be spitting out jig after jig in no time. It's been a couple of months since I made those, but I'll grab my jig box if you want to know what the mix of a certain jig is. I'm not a jig salesman, but I did sell some extras on the Texas Fishing Forum. This guy bought the jigs identical to the green pumpkin blue jigs in my pics, only I used a dark red highlight which matches the crawfish of this area. He sent me a PM recently.... "Hey, wanted to let you know, I fish the friday night tourney every friday on Lake Lewisville and tonight we won and had big bass (5.25lbs) which came on the jig I got from you..Thanks!!!! Just thought you might want to hear this..." It made me feel good, but I only make them for myself. If you plan on selling jigs, you need to pour your own heads or the profit margin isn't worth it. Also; I generally use 4 layers on my 'full' skirted jigs, and finesse jigs, which equates to 80 strands (full) and 40 (finesse).

I didn't need to read the thread; the answer is no.

If you are looking for a hobby; just get yourself an airbrush and compressor. I had 12 baits I wanted to get repainted, and the cost to send them to Tim Hughes was the same amount I spend on my entire airbrush setup. I found the simple patters with just few colors and some scales are fairly easy after just a little practice. However, the very detailed bluegill and similar patterns take serious talent and I appreciate those very detailed paintjobs even more now that I paint my own baits. If you can get your baits painted for $10 or under you are doing well. I wouldn't paint baits for that price; there is more labor than you think (cleaning your brush in between colors...drying time...etc.) There is definitely some labor involved....

Yep. The G-Lock has even a wider gap than the standard Gammy EWG, while being shorter overall. The hook point is also slightly curved up, which I feel equates to a higher hookup percentage. The G-lock is the ultimate tube hook, and reminds me of the original EWG hook; the Eagle Claw 'High Performance' hook.

The Morrum is a bad mammer-jammer....no doubt.

The Old round Abu's were the original symbol for quality, and some Abu's are still made in Sweden I think. Referring to the Revos/Pfluegurs/BPS reels that come out of pure fishing's Korea factory....I just can't put the quality up there with Japanese reels.

You really get a lot with the Citica E. It can hang with higher priced reels, and has good looks to boot!

They generally hold more line is the only thing I can think of . Most round reels are 'beefier' than low profile reels designed for lighter baits, but today's market offers low profile reels that are comparably rugged; there just isn't a huge market for them. I'd take a Daiwa TDZ Big Bait Special over a big and heavy round reel for swimbaits any day. Daiwa needs to make a Zillion Big Bait Special for a mid-market high-capacity swimbait reel. I don't even throw swimbaits, but I bet it would sell.

Sure palming the reel with a finger on the blank and line extracts every last bit of sensitivity from your rod (the way I was taught), but it can only go so far. Every human is different (obviously), and some are going to have more nerve endings in their hands than others, but I just don't think you can overcome 400% more sensitivity (I can conservatively say a GLX is 4x as sensitive as an ugly stick). Can I feel bites with any rod? Absolutely. But detecting a bite and getting kicked in the hands would be the best way to portray the difference in rods for me. I wish the blank didn't have such an impact...I'd save a lot of money.

I actually think the density of fluorocarbon is the main factor in it's sensitivity advantage over mono/copoly, but rigidity does factor in as well. Most mainline fluoro's stretch more than most mono/copolymers, and prove to be more sensitive.

I'd probably go with an Avid 6'9" MLXF.

+1. It's the deal...

Man, ain't that the truth! Never accept less than you pay for, never... 8-) The above it so true. Now to the root of the problem (...lol) I have a hard time understanding how you or anyone (except Raul or Redlinerobert) could drop $300 for a "pretty" rod. :-* ;D This is tongue in cheek so don't take it as a bash. I ask myself this question all the time. I'm not sure if I have an answer for you . I will say $300 for a pretty rod is a bargain compared to what I paid for a pretty wife

Lucky Crafts are made in Japan; BPS baits are made in China. Any product that is made or assembled in another country has to be labeled accordingly.

Pline CXX for mono/copoly Trilene 100% for fluorocarbon I enjoy trying new products, but am done trying new lines. These two could not perform any better for me.

I'd return or exchange it. The reel seat is one of the 'extras' you pay for with that rod, and does look very nice. If it bugs you now, it will bug you more later

Natural, Any specific reason(s) why you got rid of your Steez? Thinking about replacing the TD-Z's with them this year and would be interested to hear if you had any negative feedback. FD My Steez 103's were fine, and I only sold them because I didn't need them. I wasn't a fan of my Steez 100's though...I just couldn't get them dialed in. Significant Professional overruns occurred. I have 6 TD-Z's and they remain my favorite reel I have ever owned. I am in the process of overhauling them with new paint and bearings. I'll post them up when I'm done, but I'm taking my sweet time and haven't worked on them in weeks.

I don't have any Steez reels anymore, but still have some rods. I use them for all kinds of things. And yes....I realize my post is lame

Congrats to everyone on the forum for not trying to tell him he needs to spend a little more money. This is a first....

The only correction I will make in your post is about fluoro stretching. It generally stretches as much or more than copolymers. The thought that fluoro doesn't stretch came from its use as a leader long before it was made suitable for main line use. The fluoro leader material is stiff and indeed doesn't stretch much. When they softened up the fluoro to make suitable for main line use; it gained stretch.

That Prolite finesse is a step up from the Extreme, and it's on sale for $69.99. That seems like the right choice to me if you want a new reel.

The 50 MG's hold more line than the Core and they cast light weights all day with no trouble. I also like fresh line and change it daily in many circumstances but with #14XT you can cast it all out. And since I used it as my t-rig reel I had to retie fairly often, fishing timber and brush so sometimes I was forced to respool at lunch time. Plus when I fish a couple lakes in particular, I like #17 line for t-rigs... not an option with that reel. Like I said it's a great reel but I guess I should amend my other statement to say for some mono users, it's line capacity limits you. The 50mg holds the right amount of line as well. I just don't like spools that hold 150yds of 12lb line. 100-120yds of 12lb is what I prefer. With accessories widely available for all kinds of products....why can't they make a shallow or deep spool available as an accessory? I'm contemplating ordering some TD-Z spools for my anniversary zillions, but Daiwa wants $80 a piece for them :-X

See that's what I love about it! Perfect capacity IMHO. I like fresh line, and change it frequently. That's my gripe with the Zillion....too much line capacity for a jig and worm reel. That is what the Core is designed to be, and more line will directly affect the reels ability to cast lightweight baits.